MUMBAI: It’s looking at pumping up a rather placid Indian  sports hydration drink market which has not seen much innovation from major players who have  gotten used to selling bottled refreshments at high sticker prices.  

Reliance Consumer Products is, like in the past, using price and packaging as points to gain consumers’ attention and possibly upset the existing economics that multinationals have put in place for their production pipelines over the decades that they have been present in India and serving sports hydration drinks.  

Spinner the  Reliance offering is priced at Rs 10 for 150 ml, making it much more affordable than established players like  Pepsico’s Gatorade and Coca-Cola’s Powerade which retail at Rs 50 and above  for 500 ml. Decathlon's sports drink Aptonia costs Rs 99 for a 400 ml bottle, though it is available at Rs 69 on the portal.

Co-created with cricket legend Muttiah Muralitharan, Spinner is be available in lemon, orange and nitro blue flavours. The company aims to create a Rs 83,000 crore (US$1 billion) sports beverage category in India within three years.

The launch follows Reliance's successful disruption of the sparkling beverages market with Campa, which gained 10 per cent market share in some states within two years. The company has partnered with five IPL teams including Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans to boost brand visibility. 

"We've created an affordable hydration solution for everyone," said Ketan Mody, chief operating officer at Reliance Consumer. The launch comes after the company's recent entry into energy drinks with RasKik Gluco Energy, also priced at Rs 10.

600 ml of Spinner -four packs of 150 ml each -  will cost  Rs 40, which is a substantial hair cut over the long-in-existence  price point that the big two have been commanding in the market. A price war is imminent with packaging variants  and pricing options being forced upon  Powerade and Gatorade.

Should the consumer celebrate?